2010
Robert Taplin: Main Street Sculpture Project
October 31, 2010 to March 20, 2011
New Haven–based sculptor Robert Taplin has recently focused his attention on a ongoing series of works that portray the historical character Punch and his adventures in the contemporary world. Rooted deep in Western mythology, Punch is an anglicized version of Punchinello, the trickster figure that played a major role in sixteenth–century Italian commedia dell'arte. Taplin's Punch will be six feet tall, while his mother will be eleven feet, creating a narrative tension that expands Punch's subversive role into the modern world. In addition to the outdoor presentation of Punch and His Mother Go Shopping, the Museum will exhibit a selection of the artist’s small Punch studies indoors.
Image: Robert Taplin, The Young Punch and His Mother Go Shopping (detail of clay prototype), 2009
